The 2014 Hall of Fame Ballot

In honor of the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot being released, we took to twitter the other night to offer some tidbits, unpredictable or just plain awesome, about the players named. Some of them are repeats from last year, so feel free to add any comments you might have.

Todd Jones made one start in his long career: as a 35 year old in Coors Field. He was released less than a month later. Nonetheless, he pitched five more years and saved 135 more games.

Only Bonds, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, and Ty Cobb had a higher OPS from age 38 on (min. 1000 PAs) than Moises Alou, who hit .322/.383/.530.

Armando Benitez allowed a home run in 1/4 of all postseason games he appeared in. Seven in just 30.1 innings.

Speaking of Benitez and postseason homers, JT Snow hit a three-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the 2000 NLDS. Two years later, he saved Dusty Baker’s kid.

Ray Durham led off the 2002 Division Series (Game 3) against Minnesota with an inside-the-park home run.

In 2003, Eric Gagne struck out 137 in 82.1 innings, walked 20, and allowed just two home runs. His FIP was 0.86. One of those homers was at Coors Field, when the Dodgers were already down by five runs.

Jacque Jones was intentionally walked 12 times in 2005. Jim Rice’s career high was 10.

Paul Lo Duca hit as many triples as Mike Piazza, and more than Mark McGwire.

In eight appearances in the 2003 playoffs, Mike Timlin allowed just one hit in 9.2 innings with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

Richie Sexson is one of 28 players to have multiple 45+ homer seasons. He has as many as Hank Aaron.

At Coors Field in 1996, all Major Leaguers hit a collective .323/.391/.540/.931. On 9/17, Hideo Nomo threw a no-hitter there. In his only other appearance at Coors that year, Nomo allowed nine runs. It remains the only no-no ever thrown in Colorado.

Kenny Rogers‘ perfect game in 1994 was one of just two appearances that year with no runs allowed. That year, he also had two games where he allowed eight. Rogers also had his third-best season by ERA in 2005, at age 40.

On top of being the Arizona franchise leader in basically everything, Luis Gonzalez is one of 22 players since WWII to have an 1.100+ OPS season. Gonzalez’s 2001 remains the Arizona franchise record for games played, PA, HR, RBI, BB, OBP, and SLG (by 130).

In 1983, Lee Smith led the league with 29 saves. He is still third on the all-time list.

Also in 1983, Jack Morris completed 20 games, averaged 8 innings per start, and threw 293.2 innings, the most in the past 30 years.

From 1984-7, Don Mattingly hit .337/.381/.560. In 1986, he set Yankee records for hits and doubles that still stand. In July 1987, he homered in eight straight games, twice hitting two.

In 1989, Fred McGriff led the league in homers and OPS and didn’t make the All-Star team. In 1993, he was fourth in MVP voting, and again not an All-Star. From age 23-38, he never had an OPS+ less than 100, and only once had one less than 110.

Only Nap Lajoie (once) and Rogers Hornsby (several times) had a higher OPS from second base than Jeff Kent had in 2000.

Rafael Palmeiro won the 1999 Gold Glove at first base, despite playing just 28 games there, and being pulled early in three of those.

In 1986, Alan Trammell had a 120 OPS+, went 20/20, and got no MVP votes. The next year, he hit .343/.402/.551 (155 OPS+), with 28 homers and 21 steals in 23 attempts.

Edgar Martinez had a .400+ OBP every year from 1995-2003. That’s ages 32-40, including a .479 mark in 1995. From 1995-2001, Edgar’s OBP was over .420 every year, and three times it was over .450.

In 1997, Larry Walker hit .384/.460/.709/1.169 at Coors Field. And .346/.443/.733/1.176 on the road. In fact, Walker hit .314/.410/.592 on the road from 1997-9.

There has only been three seasons ever where a qualified player had more homers than singles. Mark McGwire has two of those.

Shane Victorino was hit 25 times this year, playoffs included, and that sure seemed like a lot. Craig Biggio did that five times. All told, he was hit 285 times. No active player is within 100 of that.

Tom Glavine had as many 20-win seasons as Seaver and Gibson, and threw 198+ in every full season between 1990 and 2007.

From 1981-86, Tim Raines stole 454 bases with an 87% success rate. He stole 70+ in every one of those years, including strike-shortened 1981, when he played just 88 games.

Mike Piazza has three of the eight seasons in which a catcher (80% of games at C) also had a 1.000 OPS in a season.

Frank Thomas hit .353/.487/.729/1.217 in 1994. There has only been 20 qualified seasons of a 1.200+ OPS, and Ruth and Bonds have 11 of them. Thomas owns one. From 1990-97, from his first at bat through his age 29 season, Thomas hit .330/.452/.600. Only 67 players have recorded a single season of .450 OBP, and only 25 have done it more than once. Thomas did it over his first 7.5 seasons.

Jeff Bagwell hit .368/.451/.750/1.201 in 1994. A .750 SLG season is even rarer than a 1.200 OPS. There has only been 11, and Bonds/Ruth are 7 of them. Bagwell has another.

Curt Schilling is the only member of the 3000 strikeout club with fewer than 750 walks. In fact, his 4.38 K/BB ranks first all-time.

Mike Mussina was the oldest player to ever win 20 for the first time, doing it in his final year at age 39. His .638 winning percentage is 31st all-time, despite playing his entire career in the AL East. He never played on a World Series winner, but eight times his career, the world champ was a division rival. In his two ALCS starts in 1997, Moose pitched 15 innings, allowed just four hits, walked four, struck out 25, allowed one run, and the Orioles managed to lose both games.

Greg Maddux threw at least 194 innings every year between 1988 and 2008, including strike-shortened 1994, when he only made 25 starts. From 1991-8, Maddux had a 2.32 ERA and 0.990 WHIP in 1938.1 innings, averaging more than 7 innings per start and throwing 21 shutouts. In 1994-5, he averaged 8.1 innings per start, had a 1.60 ERA (265 ERA+), 0.853 WHIP, and 6.23 K/BB. He also allowed just 12 homers in over 400 innings in those years. His 0.811 WHIP in 1995 is the NL record, and fourth lowest mark ever. Maddux led his league in BB/9 nine times, including his age 41 and 42 seasons.

In 1987, Roger Clemens won the Cy Young without making the All-Star game. In 1994, he led the league in H/9 and ERA+ and got no Cy Young votes. In 1996, he led the league in strikeouts and wound up with just shy of 8 bWAR. Again, he got no Cy Young votes. All told, Clemens won 7 Cy Youngs. Two of those (01, 04) were not deserved. On the other hand, He probably should have won in 1990 and 1992.

Barry Bonds once hit .362/.609/.812/1.422. If you went 2-5 with a homer and single every day, you would end up with 162 HR, 810 TB, 324 hits, hit .400, slug 1.000, and have a lower OPS than Barry Bonds had in 04. Bonds had a .496 OBP from 1998 until the end of his career, a span of over 5200 PAs. There have been 14 individual qualified seasons of a .500 OBP, ever. Ruth, Bonds, and Ted Williams have 12 of them.

Bonds’ IBBs from 2001-04 alone would put him nine behind Hank Aaron for the most of all time. Bonds had more IBBs in 2004 than Larry Walker, Edgar, Adam Dunn, Ripken, Giambi, A-rod, Rice, Alou, Edmonds, or Belle (among many others) had in their careers. Miguel Cabrera has been IBBed 180 times in his career. Bonds was IBBed 181 times in 2003-4. In 2003, Bonds hit 45 homers but only drove in 90. 35 of his homers came with the bases empty. His .999 OPS in 2006 at age 41 was his worst since first logging a 1.000 OPS in 1992. Bonds finished his career with more than 1000 more walks than strikeouts, joining only Ted Williams and Eddie Collins.

2 Responses to The 2014 Hall of Fame Ballot

The way pitchers treated Barry Bonds late in his career still bugs me. Why they didn’t just hit him instead of intentionally walking him is mind boggling. He put on his armor and expected to just walk or hit a home run every at bat. If he had bruised ribs and/or was ducking for his life, he never would have been so comfortable. I am not saying “Bob Gibson never would have blahblahblah” I hate that argument. What I don’t understand is why pitchers didn’t establish that they have the ball and they will dictate where it is going. The way Bonds was pitched to was the culmination of decades of timid pitchers. I am glad things have tipped a little back in the other direction, but still…232 BB in one year?!?!? I will never get over that.